Subterranean ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as prey of fossorial reptiles (Reptilia, Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) in Central Brazil

Esteves, Flávia de Araújo; Brandão, Carlos Roberto Ferreira; Viegas, Karen

doi:10.1590/s0031-10492008002800001

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Alternatively, A. vermicularis might show less fossoriality than initially thought and its survival be affected by refuge availability. The scarce data available on the diet of A. vermicularis inform individuals foraging either on the surface (Aragão et al, 2019) or having surface-dwelling ants as prey (Esteves et al, 2008), which, in concern with the species countershading color pattern, suggest some level of surface activity (Gans, 1968).…”

Section: The Probability Of Urotomy Increases With Body Size Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new tale of lost tails: Correlates of tail breakage in the worm lizard Amphisbaena vermicularis

Guedes

Costa

Moura

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Brodie et al., 1991). Although antipredator mechanisms are known for several different animal groups (Edmunds, 1974), behavioral observations in nature might prove difficult. Most species are naturally rare (Preston, 1948), and in situ observations of predator-prey interactions are generally scarce (Fitch, 1987). However, for many species this difficulty can be overcome through the inspection of specimens housed in scientific collections. For instance, individuals

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Section: The Probability Of Urotomy Increases With Body Size Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new tale of lost tails: Correlates of tail breakage in the worm lizard Amphisbaena vermicularis

Guedes

Costa

Moura

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…In addition to systematic leaf litter sampling and hand collecting, the examination of stomach contents of leaf-litter foraging amphibians is a valuable source of cryptic and rarely collected ant species (Weber 1938, Delsinne and Fernández 2012, Sosa-Calvo 2015). Many species of amphibians and non-avian reptiles specialize on ant feeding and some species are predominantly myrmecophagous (Solé et al 2002, Darst et al 2005, Esteves et al 2008). In the Neotropical poison frog family Dendrobatidae, myrmecophagy evolved at least twice, possibly three times independently (Santos et al 2003, Darst et al 2005), and the frogs sequester the skin alkaloids mostly from their ant and mite diet (McGugan et al 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4). Many amphibians, including species of the aposematic poison frogs in the family Dendrobatidae, and non-avian reptiles are known to be specialized predators of ants (Weber 1938, Darst et al 2005, Esteves et al 2008, Sosa-Calvo 2015), and therefore they provide interesting sources of rarely collected and new arthropod species. Dendrobatid poison frogs sequester alkaloids that are found in their skin toxins from their diet (Daly et al 2000, Saporito et al 2004, 2007, Darst et al 2005, McGugan et al 2016), and therefore we briefly discuss the ecology of the specialized ant feeding behavior, or myrmecophagy, of dendrobatid frogs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser)

Rabeling¹,

Sosa‐Calvo²,

O’Connell³

et al. 2016

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The ant genus Lenomyrmex was recently discovered and described from mid to high elevation rainforests in southern Central and northwestern South America. Lenomyrmex currently consists of six described species, which are only rarely collected. Here, we add a new species, Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri sp. n., which was discovered in a stomach content sample of the dendrobatid frog, Oophaga sylvatica, from northwestern Ecuador. Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri can be distinguished from other species in the genus by the presence of a well-developed petiolar node, whereas in all other species the node of the petiole is ill-defined. In addition to the shape of the petiolar node, Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri can be distinguished from the morphologically similar Lenomyrmex costatus by (i) the presence of the metanotal suture, (ii) the direction of the striae on dorsum of propodeum (concentrically transverse in Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri, longitudinal in Lenomyrmex costatus), (iii) the finely striate dorsum of postpetiole, (iv) its larger size, and (v) distinctly darker coloration. We also describe the gyne of Lenomyrmex foveolatus. This collection record from northwestern Ecuador extends the geographic distribution of Lenomyrmex foveolatus 400 km south from its previous record in Colombia. A revised taxonomic key to the workers and gynes of all described Lenomyrmex species is provided. We discuss the taxonomic relationship of Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri to other species in the genus and its biology based on the limited information that is currently available. Finally, we briefly discuss the feeding ecology of dendrobatid poison frogs in the context of providing a valuable source of rarely collected and cryptic new ant species.

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“…Riley et al ., ; Webb et al ., ; Kearney, ). The avoidance of ants in the diet is probably explained because, as it occurs in other amphisbaenians (López et al ., ; Esteves et al ., ), only a few species are consumed from those available, leading to a general avoidance of most ants found in the habitat. This may be explained by the difficulty of capturing the most aggressive ant species that can defend themselves very effectively and aggressively against amphisbaenians, especially if they are in groups (López & Martín, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the few studies that have examined availability of prey show that, in the amphisbaenian Blanus cinereus , the diet differs from what is available in the soil; amphisbaenians select insect larvae of larger size in higher proportion than their availability, and avoid some of the genera of ants available (López et al ., ). Also, other amphisbaenians select only a few species of ants from the rich diversity of available species (Esteves, Brandáo & Viegas, ). These data suggest that, in spite of the restrictions of fossorial life, amphisbaenians can discriminate and select different types of prey.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fossorial life does not constrain diet selection in the amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni

et al. 2013

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Morphological adaptations of amphisbaenians for a fossorial life constrain their ecological demands in a greater way than for epigeal reptiles. Studies on the diet of amphisbaenians suggest that most species are generalists, although others seem more selective. However, there is no information on the diet preferences of almost any species because most studies did not evaluate the availability of prey in the environment. We analysed the spring diet selection of a population of the amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni from the Chafarinas Islands, in North Africa. We specifically examined diet estimated from faecal material collected from live amphisbaenians and compared diet with the availability of invertebrates in the soil. Results indicate that the diet of T. wiegmanni amphisbaenians consists of some of the types of invertebrates that are more commonly found under rocks used by amphisbaenians, such as insect larvae, snails, isopods, beetles and ants. This diet could be initially considered generalist, and probably opportunistic. However, the comparison of proportions of prey types in the diet and those available in the habitat revealed that T. wiegmanni does not eat prey at random, but selects some particular prey types (insect larvae and pupae and, surprisingly, snails), while others (ants and isopods) are consumed less than expected by their abundance. We did not found differences between sexes or age classes in diet composition. We discuss how diet preferences could be due to selection of the more profitable or easily captured prey. There are many aspects of the feeding and foraging biology of amphisbaenians that remain unknown and further studies are clearly needed.

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Subterranean ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as prey of fossorial reptiles (Reptilia, Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) in Central Brazil

Abstract: The ant diversity observed in stomach contents of fossorial reptiles was compared to the

Cited by 5 publications

References 26 publications

A new tale of lost tails: Correlates of tail breakage in the worm lizard Amphisbaena vermicularis

A new tale of lost tails: Correlates of tail breakage in the worm lizard Amphisbaena vermicularis

Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri: a new ant species discovered in the stomach of the dendrobatid poison frog, Oophaga sylvatica (Funkhouser)

Fossorial life does not constrain diet selection in the amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni

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